Happy Memorial Day

Well our anniversary dinner was good, we went to mom and dads house and dad grilled the rib-eyes I bought. Mom made potato salad and baked beans. Today we went out to visit Shanna and Rex. Dad, Rex and I took the boat out and caught some Bass. We had a great time despite the rain. Dad took the fillets home and said he was going to bread them in panko and deep fry them, sounds good. Well that is about all we have done with food the last few days, but i have a few days off so check back for some recipes and more pictures.

MMMM.....Burritos

I recently stopped by Casa Del Sol recently for a quick bite before work, and I must say they know how to make a good burrito. I ordered the Shredded Beef Super Burrito and this thing is amazing. A shredded Beef Chimichanga wrapped in side a flour tortilla, snuggled up with lettuce, tomatoes, and enough rice and beans to stuff...well me. This restaurant is relatively new to the BODO neighborhood, and is a real nice place to have good family dinner at a reasonable price. I can't wait to go back and try some more of their fine fair. They are located at 409 S 8th Street in Boise, and offer American food as well as their Mexican menu choices.

Garden part duex

Just finished the garden, in six to eight weeks we will be able to eat a fresh grown salad. We planted lettuce, radishes, red scallions, fingerling carrots, brussel sprouts, pepperchini peppers, and tomatoes. I also planted a small herb garden with sweet basil, greek oregano, cilantro, thyme, parsley, and rosemary.
Other than that not much has gone on food wise, but tomorrow is Tanya and my first anniversary, and I plan on making us a nice dinner. Nothing to fancy but I picked up a couple rib-eyes so we will see what i come up with.

Building our garden, well maybe not

So we have decided to build a raised garden in our back yard since we don't have the space to put a traditional garden, but mother nature seems to think that we should be wet while doing it. I think we will try to finish Sunday, my next day off. I got the baking bug last night and wanted to make something sweet, but could not figure out what, so I looked through the cupboards and found flour, sugar, and eggs....hmmmm. Then it hit me, sugar cookiesNow here is where we find out a little more about me, and the way I cook. The recipe calls for 1 and 1/2 cups of softened butter to be mixed with 2 cups of sugar, but I don't have a hand mixer. So Three sticks of butter melted in the microwave and mixed with the sugar by a wire whisk worked. Then you need t0 roll the dough out with a rolling pin (oh no, here we go again), but a nice heavy Pabst Blue Ribbon glass works well, I hear that in a real pinch just a tall boy PBR works too. Maybe I should go shopping. Any way here is the recipe
1 1/2 cups butter, softened (three sticks)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on un-greased cookie sheets. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.Then frost however you see fit. I used plain white frosting and chocolate sprinkles.

Starting Off

Hey there, I decided that i would put my writing skills to the test and start this blog about the one thing I know... food. Simply put, I love food. I love to cook, but most off all I love to eat. I am not sure how this all will work but my goal is to post some of my recipes that I have, with pictures of me making it. I also will try to review my experiences dining out. So lets start with the dinner I made the other night, Spaghetti with Basil Seared Scallops.I made my own sauce with this recipe
2 lb. ground beef
6 cans tomato paste
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 yellow onion-diced
1/8 cup dry basil
1/8 cup dry oregano
3 Tbs Parsley Flakes
2 Tsp Salt
2 Tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Sugar
3 1/2 cups Water
Brown the beef with the garlic and onion in a pot ( I used to do this in a fry pan, but figured out to do it in one pot make less clean up). Add basil, oregano, parsley, then drain excess fat. Add tomato paste, cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and water, stir until all are mixed well (you may need to add more water to get the consistency you want). Then finish off with salt, pepper and sugar.
For the Scallops I used
24 Scallops rinsed and drained
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon butter
Rinse and pat dry the scallops and place in a large bowl, in another bowl mix together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Pour mixture over scallops and toss lightly, then put scallops in a large baking dish in a single layer. Sprinkle basil over scallops so that one side is sparsely covered. Heat a large skillet over medium-high, and melt the butter in the pan. Place 12 scallops basil-side down, and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes until dark golden brown. Turn scallops, and cook the other side. Cook the remaining 12 scallops the same way.
Well, there is my first try at a blog. Hope you enjoyed it, I did.